Weekend tech reading: EA's user agreement forbids lawsuits

EA's new user agreement bans lawsuits Electronic Arts has updated its Terms of Service Agreement for the Origin platform. Following Sony's lead, and taking it even further, EA has added a new clause that prevents users from suing them in both class action and jury trial forms. Or in other words, in a scummy move -- EA wants you to give up your civil rights. And yet they wonder why so many people pirate their games. NGOHQ

Third Senator says OnStar now violates privacy Senate democrats are jumping on board the bandwagon -- a wagon that wouldn't use General Motors' OnStar service, we note -- to protest the company's recent changes to the detailed tracking system for one's vehicle. Just how detailed? According to General Motors, OnStar tracks a number of specific variables, including oil life, tire pressure, and a vehicle's fuel economy... PCMag

Samsung lawsuits against Apple over 3G patents could backfire Samsung has officially stated that it plans to bring the hammer down on Apple's "free riding" on its patented 3G wireless technology. Among its latest moves is a lawsuit seeking to ban Apple's iPhones in The Netherlands, where Apple recently won an injunction barring Samsung from selling its Galaxy S-series devices in the European Union. Ars Technica

Exclusive: Motorola Xoom 2 is 9mm thick, shoots 1080p, streams Netflix in HD Sure, we just brought you details on the 4.3-inch Droid RAZR (or Spyder), but now we’re hunting bigger game -- like a 10.1-inch Motorola Xoom 2 that’s just 9mm thick. That’s still a hair thicker than the iPad 2's 8.8mm frame, but our trusted source says this Xoom successor will have an unspecified dual-core 1.2GHz processor... This is my next

Nvidia talks PC gaming trends Some claim that PC gaming is dying, but recent trends disagree. In fact, it looks to be console gaming that's soon to see a decline, thanks in part to a growing number of compelling aspects that PCs offer - including at the very least free-to-play games. Let's take a look at these and other trends, and the reasons behind them. Techgage

The great JavaScript debate: Improve it or kill it? Whatever you may think of JavaScript, it's undeniably one of the most important programming languages in modern computing. The only language that can run in every modern Web browser without the aid of plug-ins, regardless of platform, JavaScript is the lingua franca of the client-side Web. InfoWorld

California Governor Jerry Brown approves 'Amazon tax compromise' Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday that postpones new sales taxes rules that would have affected online purchases in California, granting more time for traditional and online retailers to lobby Congress for a national standard on the high-stakes issue. Huffington Post

Star Wars: The Old Republic release date is December 20 this year Game publisher Electronic Arts today announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic, one of the company’s most anticipated online games, will come out in December this year. GamesBeat

LulzSec member's 'protection' turned into his undoing Late last week, authorities arrested a LulzSec member who was using a proxy server service to hide his Internet identity. He didn't realize that service, hidemyass.com, would be his undoing. Examiner

Steam translation community slaving away Steam/Valve has decided to build a “community effort” to get its Steam platform and game files translated by the community into 26 languages -- but here is the catch: Translators do not get paid. Zanfr